These are certainly not the same Swiss, crushed by Germany for their entry into the Euro 2024 (27-14), who presented themselves at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin to face the team of France. And at the final whistle, these Helvetians who gave the Blues Olympic champions a hard time, had all the legitimacy in the world to celebrate this valiantly won draw as a victory.
The match was played in a tight handkerchief throughout, and the Blues never managed to gain an advantage of more than four goals over the Swiss who kept coming back. Until the very end of the match where, while Guillaume Gille’s men had dominated the second act head and shoulders, the Swiss equalized 7 minutes from the end to, in the end, never give in again.
Two goalkeepers in great shape
The fault lies with a French defense that was too permeable, which notably gave way in the face of the connection between maestro Andre Schmid and the powerful Lukas Laube (10 shots, 9 goals). But also to an opposing goalkeeper in full swing: Nikola Portner (10 saves from 34 shots conceded), who disgusted the French attackers – especially Hugo Descat (7 shots, 3 goals).
For the Blues, it was necessary to rely in particular on Dika Mem, top French scorer (7 goals), excessively valuable to avoid defeat for his teammates at the very end of the match, even if the 7 m throw he obtained in the 59th minute is sent onto the post by Melvyn Richardson. We also remember Ludovic Fabregas, imperial in attack (6 shots, 6 goals). But also Samir Bellahcene (24 shots conceded, 11 saves), author of a major entry into the goals after a dull start to the match from Hugo Desbonnet (14 shots conceded, 2 saves).
“We are going to analyze this match which, despite the energy and commitment deployed, did not allow us to take the measure of this Swiss team,” analyzed Gille at the microphone of BeIN Sports after the meeting. This match will give us a good basis to work from. We know that to perform well in two days against the Germans, we will need a much more successful copy. »
A poor performance for the Blues after their victory in the opening match. Now it’s time for Germany, this Tuesday (8:30 p.m.). The Germans who, in the event of a victory later this Sunday against North Macedonia, will already take a good option on 1st place in group A. For qualification to the next round, the Blues however remain masters of their destiny in the event of success against the Germans.
